Marquez on pole ahead of Lorenzo for decisive Valencia MotoGP

Marc Marquez will start the most important race of his career from pole position in the Valencia MotoGP Sunday.

The teenager knows that his 13-point lead over second-placed Jorge Lorenzo means that even if the Yamaha rider wins the final race of the season a finish of fourth place or above will assure him the world title in his first season in the category, reports Xinhua.

Marquez, who rides for the Repsol Honda team, was the fastest rider in Friday's first practice session and was fastest in qualifying Saturday, finishing ahead of Lorenzo, who will start from second place on the grid.

"The most important race of the season is getting closer and you can feel it," said Marquez after qualifying.

"I feel good on the track and my confidence is pretty high. The target was to try and finish on the front row in qualifying and we got the pole, so I'm happy about that. Tomorrow will be interesting," he said, adding that because of the changeable weather conditions expected in Valencia his team didn't know which tyres they will be riding with.

Marquez admitted he had suffered one nervous moment on his last lap of the session and had come close to falling off.

Reigning world champion Lorenzo was also content with his day's work.

"Qualifying is one thing, but the race is something else. If we make a good start we can overtake Marquez and see what we can do in the race. The aim was to finish on the front row; that is the most important thing in order not to have problems at the first corner.